easyJet chief backs venture

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of easyJet and easyGroup, has backed a pioneering e-business portfolio launched by the Robert Gordon University.

Speaking to an audience of businesspeople in Edinburgh, Mr Haji-Ioannou warned that the recent demise of the internet company boo.com was a useful reminder that the internet was not a licence to print money, and no substitute for a good business plan.

"But I want to balance that with my conviction that the internet is a fantastic weapon to beat the competition, whether you're an academic institution trying to promote your courses all over the world or a small airline trying to beat its biggest rivals," he said.

The courses, being offered by open and distance learning through RGU's virtual campus (http://campus.rgu.com), are aimed at combating the lack of technology-literate workers as well as helping people make the most of the opportunities offered by new technologies.

They range from basic skills such as word processing and accessing the internet to more complex issues such as designing networks and developing company-wide e-business strategies.

Bill Stevely, principal of RGU, said he believed it was offering the first masters course in e-business by open and distance learning. The new courses include: an MSc, diploma and certificate in e-business; the European computer driving licence, a pan-European certified qualification that recognises basic computer skills; and a programme from Cisco Systems, an international leader in networking for the internet.

Although the e-business courses have not yet been widely advertised, they have already attracted 20 students who come from as far afield as Finland and Texas. Professor Stevely said that along with thousands of students at its Aberdeen campus, RGU expected thousands more to be studying at its virtual campus.

It aimed to be widely recognised as the UK's premier vocational university, and to occupy the same place in cyberspace.

Professor Stevely said: "The internet promises to reduce if not eliminate the competitive disadvantage of distance. The virtual campus is intended to give the university a global reach beyond Scotland, let alone the Northeast.

"The new generation expects to be able to use the internet both for transactions and for learning, and if business and learning organisations don't adapt to new demands, we will indeed be dinosaurs who become extinct."

Mr Haji-Ioannou warned that the internet was no substitute for good customer service, and Professor Stevely stressed that students would not be isolated, but would be able to network through a virtual campus cafe and online societies.

With its hinterland of the north of Scotland, RGU has already built up experience in distance learning, notably for offshore workers. The new courses have also been praised as "a crucial contribution" by Patricia Hewitt, minister for small business and e-commerce.

"I commend the university for their foresight in offering everyone the opportunity to become one of the UK's first e-business graduates, and helping individuals improve their career prospects and their businesses by enhancing their knowledge of e-business," she said.